Question

US History.

Discuss the farm crisis of the late 19th century. What were the issues and how did the Farmers' Alliances/Populists seek to fix them. Were they successful

Answer 1

Farm crisis describes the times of agricultural recession, low crop prices and low farm income. The period was one of persistent and acute political unrest.

The problems facing the farmer of the late 19th century were very broad. Arranged from falling crude prices to unfair treatment by the railroads and also the fight to have silver coin as money, in effort to increase the value of a dollar. Every year the prices formers received for their crops seemed to fall. Farmers who could afford to mechanised their operations and purchase additional lands good successfully compete, but smaller more poorly financed farmers,working on small plots marginal land struggled to survive

PROBLEMS CAUSED FARM CRISIS

Farmers blamed railroad owners, grain elevator operators, land monopolists, commodity futures dealers, mortgage companies, merchants, bankers and manufacturers of farm equipment for their plight. Many of the farmers attributed their problems to discriminatory railroad rates Monopoly prices charged for farm machinery and fertilizer, an oppressively high tariff, an unfair tax structure and inflexible banking system,political corruption, corporations that brought up use tracks of land. They considered themselves to be subservient to the industrial North East, where three quarters of the nation's industry was located. They criticized deflationary monetary policy based on gold standard that benefited bankers and other creditors.

All of these problems were compounded by the fact that increasing productivity in agriculture lead to price declines. In the 1870's, 190 million new acres were put under civilization.

REFORMS

The the first major rural protest was the Patrons of Husbandry, which was founded in 1867 and had 1.5 million members by 1875 known as the Granger Movement, this embattled farmers formed buying and selling cooperative and demanded state regulation of railroad rates and the grain elevator fees.

The Greenback party agitated for the issue of paper money,not backed by gold or silver,with the idea that a depreciating currency would make it easier for debtors to meet their obligations.

Another way of protest grow out of the National Farmers Alliance and Industrial Union formed in 1875.by the late 1880 the cooperative business enterprises set up by the farmers alliances had begin to fall due to inadequate capitalisation and mismanagement. By 1890 the Farmers Alliance begun to enter politics. The alliance formed the People's or Populist party.among other things the populist financed commodity credit system that would have allowed farmers to store their crop in federal warehouse to await favourable market prices and meanwhile borrow up to 80% of the current market price.

The populist platform also sort a graduated income tax public ownership of utilities, the voter initiative and referendum, the 8 hour work day, immigration restrictions,and the government control of currency.

The populist party enabled farmers to buying together as an organised group, express their grievances and game a sense of belonging to the community they had previously lacked.

In conclusion the farmers of the late 19th century faced many legitimate problems.with the following crop rises dominating monopolies and demonetisation of silver farmers had some tough decisions to make. In the end they decided to bind together and form alliances that a historical event today.